Convertible shipping and storage chest



6, 1932. F PETERS 7 1,889,760

CONVERTIBLE SHIPPING AND STORAGE CHEST Filed Nov. 13, 1930 6 FIG 1 IAIVENTOR.

EDWARD B-PETE E ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 6, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EDWARD E. PETERS, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO; FRANK .E. OGALLAGHER, ADMINISTRATOR OF SAID EDWARD F. PETERS, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL MARKING I MACHINE (30., O1 CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO Application filed November 13,1930. semi No. 495,497. I

- The present invention relates to an improved convertible shipping and storage chest which, while adapted for storing and shipping various articles, is especially designed for use by owners and trainers of sad,- dle horses, hunters, polo ponies, race horses and harness horses, when it is necessary to store and ship the equipment for these animals. The equipment or tack as it is generally called comprises saddles, bridles, harness, blankets, brushes, combs, and other accessories, which are usually hung up indiss criminately in the stable of a race track,or other place, and when the location of the stable is changed, the tack is bundled up in a haphazard manner and shippedto its destination. As a result, accessories are frequently lost or misplaced, sometimes stolen, and valuable time is lost in identifying the equipment of a particular horse. 7

The primary object of my. invention is the provision of a storing and shipping chest in which the tack may be stored in an orderly fashion, to preventmarring and soiling of parts and to insure facility and safety in the handling of the accessories, and with facility the chest may be converted into a wardrobe for the display of the taclt and to assure ready accessibility of the various articles ofthe equipment.

In carrying out my invention I utilize a chest having a rigid end and side, together with foldable, hinged sidesand end to form a rectangular enclosure, and, when the parts are opened, or spread, to form an upright display rack.

Means are provided whereby the folded parts of the chest are securely fastened and locked together, and the structural arrangement of the unfolded or spread-apart chest is such as to insure a stable, upright and erect rack upon which the tack may be supported and displayed in an orderly manner.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts as will hereinafter be more fully set forth and claimed. In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of my invention wherein the parts are combined and arranged ac cording to the best mode I have thus far devised-for the practical application of the principles of my invention.

Figure 1' is a perspective view of the chest converted for us'eas a rack for supporting the tack, one end of the chest being shown 1n partially opened position for convenience of illustration. j a

Figure 2is an edge view of one of the sides or panels of the chest. 1 v s F igure 3-is a transversesectional View of the closed chest. Figure 4 is a perspective View of the chest closed and locked for shipping or storing.

In the preferred form of the invention as shown I employ four rectangular sides or panels 1,2, 3 and 4, which are hinged together as at 5, and the panel or side 2 has rigidly fixed'at one end thereof an end or base 6 of approximately square shape.

The opposite end or head 7 of the'chest is hinged at 8 to the fixed or stationary panel or side 2 and a linked or flexible brace 9 between the panel 2 and the hinged head 7 is used to hold and brace the hinged head 7 in upright position, if'desired, or in the position of Figure 1, when the chest is converted for use as a rack, as in Figure 1.

The hinged head is provided with a valance or flange 10 around its three free'edges, and these flanges overlap the complementary edges of the folded panels 1, 3, and 4 when the chest is closed, as in Figure 4, and to hold the panels against displacement. j i A hasp and padlock indicated at 11 are provided for locking the panels 1 and 4, and a second hasp andpadlock 12 are provided for locking the hinged headto the panel 4 after the parts have beenfolded into the compact form of Figure 4.

Atthe base end of the chest, the three panels 1, 3, and 4 are rigidlyfast'ened together by the use of spring bolts 13 mounted in casings 14 at the end of the panels, and these spring bolt-s slip into sockets 15 of the base 6 to lock the panels'to the base and prevent displacement when the chest is closed.

: Then the chestis converted foruse as a rack, as inFigurel, the base 6 is used thefoundation or base for the rack, and the A tray 17, with several compartments for various articles of equipment, is rigidly fixed to the inner or upper face of the base 6 and also to the inner or front face of the rigid panel 2, and this tray not only performs the functions of a receptacle for articles of the tack, but also braces the angularly disposed base 6 and rigid panel 2, suitable means being employed for fastening the walls of the tray to the base and panel.

The rigid panel 2 is equipped with a suitable number of hooks or pegs 18 that are adapted to support saddles and harness suspended thereon, and the hinged panels 3 and 4 are provided with supporting blocks as 19 for the reception of bridles. p

Each of the panelsl, 3, and 4 is provided with a curtain 20, of canvas, or other suitable, flexible material, and these curtains are suspended from curtain rods 21 attached near the upper ends ofthe panels, In Figure 1, the curtain on panel 21 is shown as suspended or hanging directly in front of accessories that may be supported on the rack panel 1 to protect the accessories from dust. The curtains on panels 3 and 4 are shown by dotted lines as having been thrown back over the top edges of the panels to disclose the rack features.

7 These curtains, when the chest is closed, are also used to fasten the accessories against displacement within the chest,-and in co-operation with the curtains I use leather straps, as 22 extending transversely. of the inner faces of the panels and located one near the bottom and one near the approximate center of the panels. The straps 'are provided with the usual buckles 23 for joining their ends, and the straps are also provided with retaining loops as 24 at their centers and loops 25 at their ends so that the straps may be looped around articles on the racks for packing, storing, and shipping, to prevent displacementof the articles. The canvas curtains may also be wrapped around these articles, and then secured by the straps, to hold the articles against displacement while the chest is in transit.

Blankets indicated by dotted lines at 26 in Figure 2, may also be draped from the curtain rods, for display, and these blankets arealso employed in packing'the articles of the tack in the chest, for shipping or storing.

For convenience in handling'the various articles of harness, saddles, bridles, and other equipment, the pegs, hangers, blocks, &c. of the chest may be changed as desired to accommodate harness, saddles and bridles of all kinds. The pegs, hangers, blocks &c. to be used therefor will'be of such shape and size as may be required, and may be numbered, and the articles to be suspended from these nu1nbered hangers, pegs, &c., are given com-plementary numbers, thus providing a place for everything in the equipment and insuring that everything will be in its place.

The racks for the saddles, bridles, &c. are arranged in such order that these articles may be stored, shipped and displayed with convenience, and when packed the articles are held firmly in place to prevent scuffing, rubbing, or otherwisemarring them.

Having thus fully described by invention,

.What I claim as new and desire to. secure b Letters Patent is p The combination with a rigidly joined main panel, an angular base and a rectangular tray, of a panel hinged at one side of the main panel and a pair of hinged panels hinged at the other side of the main panel, said hinged ,panels adapted to fold against the rectangular tray, spring pressed fastening bolts mounted adjacent the lower ends of, the

hinged panels and adapted, alternately, to enf gage the base, and a floor, a head hinged on the main panel, a valance on the head adapted to engage the upper ends of the folded hinged panels,-means for locking said head to one'of the folded panels, and means for 1 locking the two outer hinged panels in folded position.

In testimony whereof I have aifixed my signature.

EDWARD F. PETERS. 

